My aim is to offer insights into some of the more subtle principles underpinning prints. The commentary is based on thirty-eight years of teaching and the prints and other collectables that I am focusing on are those which I have acquired over the years.
In the galleries of prints (accessed by clicking the links immediately below) I am also adding fresh images offered for sale. If you get lost in the maze of links, simply click the "home" button to return to the blog discussions.

“Portrait of Christian Ludwig von Lowenstern, half-length, turned
to the right, looking at the viewer from behind a curtain that he holds open
with his right hand, wearing soft cap and robe; an easel behind on the right;
in window frame; below on the right, an open book with coat of arms, books and
pens on the floor; after Fiedler. Mezzotint”

Condition: crisp impression with restored abrasions, faint stains
and laid upon a support sheet of washi paper to stabilise thin areas in the
paper.

I am selling this visually arresting mezzotint for the total cost
of AU$156 (currently US$120.34/EUR101.44/GBP90.07 at the time of this listing)
including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this intriguing and unforgettable
print, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a
PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

There are a few portraits created through history that “stand out”
in the long tradition of portraiture and this is one of them. The subject of
the portrait, Christian Ludwig Löwenstern (1701–1754), was as artist as signified
by the easel shown in the background and the brushes in the immediate
foreground, but he was also a poet of substance and an author as signified by
the quill and books in the foreground.

Arguably, the reason that this portrait is so arresting is because
of the way that the composition is arranged to prompt a reflexive response in
the viewer. For example, von Löwenstern is shown in the act of lightly pushing
aside the large drape on the left and looking directly at the viewer with a faintly
welcoming smile. Importantly—and I believe that this next visual device is used
intentionally—vonLöwenstern’s pupils are also portrayed as dilated to intuitively
entice a warm response in the viewer.

Beyond exciting a reflexive response, I wish to propose that the trompe
l'oeil depiction of von Löwenstern in the act of drawing the drape to one side is an
orchestrated subliminal reference to the Greek legend of Parrhasius’ curtain.
For those who may not be familiar with the story about this curtain, I will try
to explain. The ancient Greek painter, Parrhasius, was engaged in an art
contest with his artistic peer, Zeuxis. Zeuxis painted a bunch of grapes and
was almost deemed the winner after birds flew down to eat his painted grapes,
but lost the contest when he was invited to pull back the curtain which seemed
to be in front of Parrhasius’ painting: the curtain was not real it was painted
and was so well executed that it had fooled Zeuxis and so Parrhasius was judged
the better painter.